Meat

Chapter Twenty-Six

Carson tugged his shirt over his head and smoothed the material down his body. The smell of laundry detergent itched at his nose and the material scratched his sensitive skin. Glancing across the room, he ran his fingers through his hair. Edeline sat against the headboard of one of the old beds, her gaze set on the pulled curtains and the world that laid beyond them.

"You wanted a war," she said without turning away from the covered window. She'd let her long hair fall free, shielding half her face from him. Her pale nose just peeked out from behind the soft curtain.

"Excuse me?"

"I can see it," she said. "Every plan, every lie. You've forsaken your family for this, your pack."

Striding around the end of the bed, Carson looked down at her. She turned her eyes up to him. Her gaze traced every inch of his face and down his neck, pausing at the collar of his shirt.

"I did this to protect my family," Carson said. Her lips parted, but no sound came forth. "The longer the vampires remain in the city, the more danger we're all in. Everything will come crumbling down."

Edeline looked down at his hands, clenched at his sides. She got to her feet, every movement precise as she stood before him. Almost a head shorter than he was, she looked tiny, a little bundle of dark hair and big eyes. For a moment, she reminded him of Priya, but it was gone just as fast as she stepped closer to him.

"You're wrong," she whispered.

"I'm not wrong. The vampires are..."

"Not the vampires," she said. "This isn't what your father would have done."

Stepping back, Carson pressed his lips into a tight line, his fists clenching harder.

"You know nothing about my father."

"But you do." Reaching up, she tapped two fingers against her temple and gave him a sly grin. "I know what you know, what you're thinking. You're trying to tell yourself that this is what he would have done, what he wanted, but even you know it's a lie. He lived here for decades with the vampires in the city and he never made a move to touch them."

Carson jumped forwards, half way to shoving her away from him when he stopped, each breath coming in a growl.

"Get out of my head."

Chuckling, Edeline closed the gap between them. There was a cautious courage in her face as she placed a hand on each of his cheeks, her little fingers brushing the lobes of his ears.

"I can't help it," she said. "You're screaming for someone to hear you, to listen to you. Don't you hear it?"

Carson grasped her wrists, prying her hands from him. She kept right on smiling up at him as he dropped her hands and moved away.

"I don't hear anything," he replied. "And neither do you. You're wrong."

"You don't believe that."

"Don't tell me what I believe!"

Turning away from her, he strode to the door. His cheeks were burning, he could feel her skin against his, see her eyes when he blinked. Gritting his teeth, he yanked the door open.

"Get some sleep."

Carson closed the door behind him, resting his shoulders against the wall beside the door frame. She was wrong. She had to be. She knew nothing about him!

Even in the back of his mind, Carson knew it was a lie.

***

The smell didn't get any better within the dingy motel, even as Carson's wolf senses receded on him. The sun had passed over the top of the motel, and he knew that the curtains would block out the worst of the sun. If he chose, he could tell Spencer his seclusion to the cramped bathroom need not continue. Instead, Carson held his tongue and left the bathroom door closed.